Where flock nocturnal bats and birds obscene,
Cluster'd they hang, till at some sudden shock,
They move, and murmurs run through all the rock:
So cowering fled the sable heaps of ghosts;
And such a scream fill'd all the dismal coasts.

There they overhear Ajax giving Achilles a minute account of his
funeral,--the grandest ever seen,--and when questioned describe
Penelope's stratagem in regard to the Web and to Ulysses' bow.

Meanwhile Ulysses has arrived at his father's farm, where the old man
is busy among his trees. To prepare Laertes for his return, Ulysses
relates one of his fairy tales ere he makes himself known. Like
Penelope, Laertes proves incredulous, until Ulysses points out the
trees given him when a child and exhibits his scar.

Smit with the signs which all his doubts explain,
His heart within him melts; his knees sustain
Their feeble weight no more; his arms alone
Support him, round the loved Ulysses thrown:
He faints, he sinks, with mighty joys oppress'd:
Ulysses clasps him to his eager breast.

To celebrate their reunion, a banquet is held, which permits the
Ithacans to show their joy at their master's return. Meanwhile the
friends of the suitors, having heard of the massacre, determine to
avenge them by slaying father and son. But, aided by Minerva and
Jupiter, these two heroes present so formidable an appearance, that
the attacking party concludes a treaty, which restores peace to Ithaca
and ends the Odyssey.